


Of laundry and men

by hellodickspeight



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic, Fluff, Getting Together, Laundry, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 12:45:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4746941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellodickspeight/pseuds/hellodickspeight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Derek doesn't know why there is a laundromat opened twenty four hours a day on his street but he accepts it. It turns out pratical, five weeks after he moves in, when his washer machine breaks. He takes his basket full of dirty clothes, thinks 'what the hell', even if it is 10pm, and he walks to the place."</p><p>An AU in which Stiles and Derek meet in a laundry place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of laundry and men

**Author's Note:**

> Hola ! I started writing this foreeever ago and so I hope it's all coherent and stuff. I kinda really like this setting, I couldn't give this fic up. (Also I might write some more to this !)  
> Anyway I hope you guys like it and I'm sorry, it is not beta'd. 
> 
> (This took me half an hour to post from my phone, I don't advice posting from a phone)
> 
> (22-09-15: Fixed some details and mise en page !)

Derek doesn't know why there is a laundromat opened twenty four hours a day on his street but he accepts it. It turns out pratical, five weeks after he moves in, when his washer machine breaks. He takes his basket full of dirty clothes, thinks _what the hell_ , even if it is 10pm, and he walks to the place. It's not really far anyway.

The place is empty when he walks in, though there is two machines working, surprisingly quietly. The machines all seems fairly new, or not too old at least, and Derek adopts one, puts his clothes in and starts it with a few quarters. And then he waits. He should have brought a book, he realizes. Or maybe he can walk home and come back in an hour ? Who would steal clothes ?

He decides against it. He sits on a non occupied machine, takes his phone out of his pocket. At least his battery's almost full, he can play games while he waits.

Derek's been playing this Spider-Man game he installed on his phone two weeks ago, when a guy arrives.

The guy walks in, singing under his breath, even dancing a bit, totally unawared of the other man's presence. He goes to one of the others functionning machines, watches it turn for a second or two, then his gaze goes to Derek's machine. He checks around, sees the only other person in the place.

"Oh, hi," the other guy says with an excited smile. He walks to Derek, jumps on the machine next to him. "I see I'm not the only one who forgot to do their laundry before, huh ? This laundromat saved my life, when my dryer broke like, two months ago."

"Two months is a lot," Derek says, not sure how to interact.

"Yeah, well, I'm broke ?" The guy laughs. "I mean, I'm fine, but a new dryer is expensive. And if I buy a new dryer, I might as well buy a new washer, since they almost come in pair. I mean, mismatched washer and dryer are just plain weird, don't you think ?"

"No," he simply replies.

"Anyway, this place is cool. I always come so late, though, I never saw anyone else here. So hi !"

"My washer broke," Derek admits. He figures if he has to stay alone with this guy for almost two hours, he might as well talk to him. "And I have nothing to wear for tomorrow to see my sister. We're meeting up for breakfast, she doesn't come in the city a lot."

The guy nods as if he totally understands.

"My best bro, Scott, used to moms me when he saw my laundry's not done. I always do it before he comes see me, now."

"Is he coming tomorrow ?"

"Nah, I also do my laundry when I need to. I'm a grown adult," the guy says, a smirk hanging on the corner of his mouth.

There is a ear-splitting sound that makes Derek jump in surprise and he realizes, when the other guy jumps on the floor and walks to his attribuated machines, that it means the washer machine is done. They both don't say a word as the guy exchange his clothes of machines, then starts the dryers.

It looks like Derek is going to be alone for about an hour, after all. Maybe he would be able to get a book back in his apartment before the guy leaves ?

  
Two hours later, Derek leaves the laundromat with his basket now full of washed clothes. The guy didn't leave, after all. He stayed, even after his clothes were dry, and talked, talked and talked. He helped Derek fold his clothes and they never exchanged their names.

 

  
Derek forgets to call someone to fix his washer machine. He doesn't need it for a while, so it doesn't come into his mind, once that his clothes aren't dirty. When he does remember to do it, though, it is 10pm again and he can't believe he keeps forgetting to do his laundry before that hour. He has an apartment, a desk job, _responsabilities_ , he _should_ remembers his laundry.

Having not much of a choice, he goes back to the laundromat. He remembers to bring a book this time, one that he actually planned on reading a while ago, and doesn't find the time to read. Maybe he will actually benifits of this.

The place is, once again, empty when he walks in and this time no machine is of use. He didn't exactly expect to see the guy he saw the first time, but he still feels disappointment, even if very slightly. He shrugs it off, starts putting his clothes in the same machine he used the first time he came here.

"See, this is a thing we didn't talk about last time, but should have," he hears near him.

Derek looks at his left, eyebrows lifted in confusion. The guy is there, leaning against a machine, with his arms crossed. Did he magically appear ? He didn't hear him walk in at all. "What ?"

"Sorting out your clothes. Darks and reds together. Whites, towels separated. You can't just put everything together, didn't your mom teach you this ?"

Derek doesn't want to tell him his mother is dead. "No," he simply says. Then he adds: "I always did it like this, and everything is fine."

"Do as you wish," the guy says, moving to his own machines, also the same he used last time. "But your whites might come off a bit greyish. Don't say I didn't warn you."

So this is what happened to his white tank tops ? He almost wants to ask more to the guy, but that would be admiting defeat. He doesn't. Anyway it's too late, now, the machine is working.

  
They don't talk much more for a while. Derek has his book, and the guy seems to respects it. He almost doesn't get any reading done, as he keeps hearing the guy singing under his breath and it disconcentrates him a bit. When Derek looked at him, though, the guy didn't seem aware he was singing, so he let it go.

He gives up reading after the two first cycles of the machine. He puts the book in his clothes basket and looks over the guy, typing something on his phone.

"What do you usually do all alone here for two hours ?"

"Huh ?" the guy asks, looking up from his phone with surprised eyes, as if he didn't expect Derek to talk to him today. "Oh, I usually bring my laptop. Sometimes I sleep a little."

"You sleep in here ?" Derek asks, not believing it one second.

"Yeah, on the working machines. You should try it, one day, it's soothing."

"Soothing ?"

"You can't say it's not if you didn't try it, dude," the guy smiles at him. There's a light in his eyes, turning them brown to gold, and Derek wants to say it's playful. He likes that.

  
"Anyway, what's your name ?" the guy asks him, much later.

Derek's laundry is done, and there is only one dryer still working.

"Derek," he says with a small smile.

"Nice to officially meet you, Derek," the other smirks. "I'm Stiles."

 _Stiles_. It sounds well. And somehow, fits him.

"Nice to officially meet you, Stiles."

They shake hands.

 

  
"I can't believe you still didn't call someone to fix your washer, Derek," his sister Laura sighs over the phone, two months. "Going at this laundromat can't be pratical."

"It isn't," he says, because it's true.

"What a waste of time !"

Derek frowns at this. The laundromat isn't pratical, yes, but it isn't a waste of time. "It's not a waste of time," he tell her.

"You're missing two hours of your life in there," she says as if he does't know how much time he spent in the place.

"I am not !"

"What, do you leave it ? Aren't you scared someone is going to steal your clothes ?"

"Steal my- ? I don't leave the place, Laura," he sighs. "But it's still not a waste of time. I can bring my laptop and do some work. There are tables, and chairs. Free wifi."

He's not going to tell her he prefers to sit on the working machines - it's soothing !- or that he never brings his laptop to do some work. He doesn't even bring a book anymore. Stiles is just -literally- always there to keep him company. Well, to do his laundry, but also keeping him company.

They have an unspoken law, together. No one leaves before the other's laundry is done. Leaving before is just rude.

Also, one time, Stiles brought snacks. Almost as if he _knew_ Derek was going to be there. He doesn't know how he does it, to always come when Derek is there, at the point he _knows_ he's going to be there, but he does it. They didn't exchange phone numbers. They don't give each other rendez-vous. Stiles is just there, no matter what.

Derek didn't even tell Laura about Stiles. He doesn't want to.

"You should still call someone," Laura says, interrupting his thoughts. "Or, I'll do it for you, if you keep forgetting. Which you do, so I guess that's settled."

"Why are you putting your nose into my things ?"

"Because you need me to. You can't waste any more quarters in this laundromat. The place's running because of you, Derek."

"You are exaggerating. I'm going to hang up. Love you, Laura."

"Love you, Der-Bear !" he hears before he hangs up.

  
Laura texts him an hour later, telling him to be at home on Thursday at 5pm. _My friend Mark is going to check your washer_ , she writes him.

He writes a _thanks_ back, but he is not feeling it.

  
He tells himself he is not jinxing the reparation of his washer on purpose, he really is not. The truth is that when his boss tells him that he won't be able to leave until 6pm, on Thursday, he doesn't feel bad at all. He texts Laura to tell her so that she can cancel everything, and then puts his phone on silent just in case she decides to call him. He's not dealing with her patronizing him about the laundromat again.

It's his own fault, then, when Laura's friend Mark arrives at his place at 7pm. He probably shouldn't have tell Laura when he was going to be done. Or turn off his phone to avoid her.

He lets Mark in and they exchange a few words before Derek leads him to the laundry room. It takes about ten minutes for the guy to find the problem, and by the sigh he makes, it's nothing good.

Derek is not happy by this new. He's not happy about more possibly more Stiles.

(Even though he really is. He probably shouldn't, but it's not like he decides what makes him happy.)

Mark tells him what the problem is, but all he registers is that "you need a whole new piece, man. I can order one for you but it can take two weeks, like it can takes two months before it arrives."

The "two months" resonates in his mind. Laura's going to be pissed. Derek has to retain his smile.

  
(Laura is not as pissed as he thought she would, but maybe that's because she's more confident on the "two weeks".)

 

  
Derek is slightly disappointed when he doesn't see Stiles the next time he goes at the laundromat, but he actually get some work done. It's still kind of strange, though, being there alone. It must have been near three months since he first came in and he only ever was alone the first time, for about fifteen minutes.

...

Three months is a really long time for having your washer broken. No wonder Laura is annoyed at him for not getting it repared before. And Stiles had his dryer broken before ? Maybe he finally got around to fix it.

Don't think of that.

...

That's kind of dumb how they both spend way too much money on this place, when together they had a working set. They probably could have done something with that. Derek doesn't live far and Stiles probably doesn't live far either. Why did he never think of this before ?

...

He doesn't even have a way to reach Stiles.

 

His clothes are on the last cycle of the dryer machine when the door opens and Stiles comes in joyfully, his basket in hands.

"Heya Derek," he greets him with a smile.

Derek, who had successfully managed to convince himself that he was never going to see Stiles again, can only say : "I thought your dryer was fixed."

Stiles stops on his way to his usual machine, turns to look at Derek. "What ? That's ridiculous."

"Are you ever going to fix it ?"

"It's not fixable," Stiles replies, smile not faltering at all. Like it's not a problem. "I called a guy when it broke and he told me it was good for the trash. I need a new one. And, as I told you on the first day, a new set is expensive."

"My sister called a guy for me. Her friend," Derek admits quietly. "A piece needs to be changed, he ordered it already."

Stiles' smile dies a little, the corners of his lips goes down. "That's great."

Derek wants to say : I'm going to miss this. He wants to say : You can come wash your clothes at my place, I won't charge you. (It'd be funny, Derek can be funny.) He wants to make Stiles' eyes shine again and see his smile until he dies.

He doesn't say anything. The dryer machine beeps.

 

"There's a guy," he tells his sister the next time she is in town, over pancakes at the breakfast place close to his apartment.

She watches with her eyebrows lifted, unimpressed. "Yeah, I know that."

"I don't want my washer machine to be fixed," he frowns.

"It's going to be fixed, Derek. It's the adult thing to do. You should ask him out," she adds after she eats a bite of pancake.

Startled, Derek almost drop his fork. "What ?"

"You obviously like him," she smiles. "Ask him out, then you can have your washer machine repared. Do it before it's too late and you don't ever see him."

 

He doesn't. He thinks about it, but doesn't. The next time he sees Stiles, he thinks about the words over and over again but they never leave his mouth. They changed, evolved. Went from "We should exchange our phone numbers ?" to "Do you think we could meet someplace else where there is no laundry machines and more coffee, maybe ?" to "I really really like you and I don't want this to end but it will probably one day, can we find a solution to this ?" He feels a little bit off but Stiles doesn't seem to notice it, or if he does, he doesn't let it show.

 

Mark calls Laura back three weeks later. He's got the piece. He asks when Derek is free for him to come over.

 

When the machine is fixed, thanks to Mark, Derek washes a load, tests it out. It's as new and he probably spends way to much time watching the clothes turning - thanks for washer with door-window.

When he wakes himself up, pulls himself out of this sort of transe the repetition creates, he takes his clothes basket with the rest of his dirty clothes in, and he goes out to the laundromat.

Stiles is there when he walks in, sat on one of his machine and he smiles as he sees Derek.

"My favorite laundromat buddy, hello," he says, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture.

"Do you have any other laundromat buddy ?" Derek asks, a smile hanging on his lips,too.

Stiles seems to think about it. "No. Which is kind of weird, isn't it ? Did you ever see anyone else than me in here ?"

"Who does their laundry at 10pm ?"

"Us," Stiles simply replies.

That "us" resonates in Derek, deep. He starts loading the machine he's used to, glad he came, when he notices there is no sound in the place. After a look around, Derek realizes Stiles isn't washing anything. He feels weirdly cold.

"Where are your clothes ?" he asks dumbly.

"At my apartment, except for the ones I'm wearing right now. Also, I think Scott has some, for some weird reasons."

"What are you doing here ?" Derek asks, even more dumbly.

Stiles seems uneasy now, shifts a bit. "It's laundry day. You come here every Sunday."

Derek hadn't realize he had a pattern but he guesses that makes sense. But also, Stiles learned it ?

"Why don't you have any clothes to wash ?"

Something vibers in his pocket and he takes his phone out by habit more than anything. He stops looking at Stiles only to read the text his sister sent him.

_Ask him out._

Derek wonders how she knows where he is. Maybe she noticed the pattern as well.

"My dad bought me a new set," Stiles finally drops.

Derek's eyes snap back to his. He feels frozen.

"He said it was ridiculous that I wasn't going to buy one like, ever. So he did. Said it's an early birthday and christmas present for the next I don't even know how many years."

His phone vibers in his hand, this time.

_ASK HIM OUT_

"I didn't want to not see you, so I came anyway. I didn't have any other way to reach you," Stiles adds.

"We should exchange numbers," Derek says simply.

Stiles doesn't reply for a while and it gives time for Derek's brain to start working again.

"Also have dinner," he adds. "We should see each other more than once a week. You should meet my sister Laura and I should meet Scott and your dad. We should do laundry together, actually together. Like, your clothes with mines, you know ? We should probably kiss, probably be an "us". We should-"

"I probably should stop you at some point," Stiles cuts with a soft smile as he drops on the floor. "I agree that we should kiss," he whispers as he gets closer to Derek. "Like, we should kiss right now."

"It's overdue," Derek agrees.

He puts one and on Stiles' waist and the other on his back to pull him closer to him until Stiles is leaning into him. Their lips are going to touch when the phone in his hand vibers again and Derek wants to throw it on the wall.

_ASK HIM OUT !!!!_

"You should tell her she ruined it and I don't want to talk to you ever again," Stiles says as he reads the text Derek is showing to him. "Make her feel bad a bit. But only after you kissed me for real because she'll probably send you a bunch of apologies texts."

Derek nods and he does. He kisses him.

It's magical. They should fall in love, he thinks.

(He thinks he might be already.)


End file.
